Elections for the office of Delaware State Senate were held in [[Delaware]] on [[State legislative elections, 2012|November 6, 2012]]. A '''total of 21 seats''' were up for election. Although Delaware senators typically serve four-year terms, they are elected to a two-year term during the first election of the decade. Thus, rather than only half of all senators being up for election, all sitting members will be on the ballot in November.

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Elections for the office of Delaware State Senate were held in [[Delaware]] on [[State legislative elections, 2012|November 6, 2012]]. A '''total of 21 seats''' were up for election. Although Delaware senators typically serve four-year terms, they are elected to a two-year term during the first election of the decade. Thus, rather than only half of all senators being up for election, all sitting members were on the ballot in November.

The [[Signature requirements and deadlines for 2012 state legislative elections | signature filing deadline]] was February 6, 2012 and the [[Signature requirements and deadlines for 2012 state legislative elections|primary date]] was February 7 2012.

The [[Signature requirements and deadlines for 2012 state legislative elections | signature filing deadline]] was February 6, 2012 and the [[Signature requirements and deadlines for 2012 state legislative elections|primary date]] was February 7 2012.

The Lieutenant Governor of Delaware serves as the President of the Senate, but only casts a vote when doing so is required to break a tie. When the Lieutenant Governor is not present, the President Pro Tempore -- who is elected by the majority party -- presides over the Senate.

2010

Role in state budget

The state operates on an annual budget cycle. The sequence of key events in the budget process is as follows:[8][9]

In July and August of the year preceding the start of the new fiscal year, the governor sends budget instructions to state agencies.

In October, agencies submit their budget requests to the governor.

Budget hearings are held with the public in November.

On or before February 1, the governor submits his or her proposed budget to the state legislature.

The legislature must pass a budget with a simple majority by June 30. The fiscal year then begins in July.

The governor is constitutionally and statutorily required to submit a balanced budget to the legislature. In turn, the legislature must pass a balanced budget, and any budget signed into law by the governor must be balanced.[9]

Delaware maintains two major governmental funds: the General Fund and the Special Fund. Within the Special Fund, there are four category types: Appropriated Special Funds (ASF), Non-appropriated Special Funds (NSF), Federal Funds and Bond Funds.[10]

Cost-benefit analyses

The Pew-MacArthur Results First Initiative released a report in July 2013 which indicated that cost-benefit analysis in policymaking led to more effective uses of public funds. Looking at data from 2008 through 2011, the study's authors found that some states were more likely to use cost-benefit analysis while others were facing challenges and lagging behind the rest of the nation. Among the challenges states faced were a lack of time, money and technical skills needed to conduct comprehensive cost-benefit analyses. Delaware was one of 29 states with mixed results regarding the frequency and effectiveness in its use of cost-benefit analysis.[11]

Ethics and transparency

Following the Money report

The U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a consumer-focused nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., released its annual report on state transparency websites in April 2014. The report, entitled "Following the Money," measured how transparent and accountable state websites are with regard to state government spending.[12] According to the report, Delaware received a grade of D+ and a numerical score of 63, indicating that Delaware was "lagging" in terms of transparency regarding state spending.[12]

2012

Elections for the office of Delaware State Senate were held in Delaware on November 6, 2012. A total of 21 seats were up for election. Although Delaware senators typically serve four-year terms, they are elected to a two-year term during the first election of the decade. Thus, rather than only half of all senators being up for election, all sitting members were on the ballot in November.

2010

Elections for the office of Delaware State Senator were held in Delaware on November 2, 2010. Senate seats in ten of Delaware's 21 districts were up for election in 2010. These districts were: 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 20.

The primary nomination process for candidates wishing to run in these elections was to gain the party's nomination at state conventions held by the state's two major political parties in May. Candidates wishing to run as independents could submit nominating signatures up through July 30. The primary election day was September 14, 2010.

The partisan breakdown of the Senate before and after the election was as follows:

2000

Elections for the office of Delaware State Senate consisted of a primary election on September 9, 2000, and a general election on November 7, 2000.

During the 2000 election, the total value of contributions to Senate candidates was $908,155. The top 10 contributors were:[19]

2000 Donors, Delaware State Senate

Donor

Amount

Welsh, Paul

$100,000

Delaware Democratic Party

$30,000

Hocker, Gerald

$25,400

Mcginchey, William V

$22,631

Delaware Republican Party

$13,386

Delaware Trial Lawyers Association

$6,000

Nonpartisan Citizens for Business Expansion

$5,660

Medical Society of Delaware

$5,200

Wilmington Police & Fire Pension Task Force

$5,200

Delaware State Dental Society

$5,100

Qualifications

Article II, Section 3 of the Delaware Constitution states: No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-seven years and have been a citizen and inhabitant of the State three years next preceding the day of his election and the last year of that term an inhabitant of the Senatorial District in which he shall be chosen, unless he shall have been absent on the public business of the United States or of this State.

Vacancies

If there is a vacancy in the Senate, the Senate President must call for a special election. The election must be called for no later than 30 days after the vacancy happened. The Governor may make the declaration if the Senate is not in session. The date of the election must be set no later than 10 days after a declaration was made.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag Significant population shifts threatened to radically alter state House and Senate districts. According to the Delaware Population Consortium, there was a large shift to the southern part of the state, with Sussex County growing by 25% while New Castle County only saw 7% growth.[20]

With a comfortable majority in the Senate, Democrats controlled the redistricting process, although Republicans did construct a counter-proposal to Democratic maps. The Senate map was approved on June 30, 2011 by a 15-6 vote. Two districts were merged in the northern part of the state in order to make room for a new southern district.[21][22]

When sworn in

List of current members

Senators must be citizens of the United States, have lived in Delaware for three years and been a resident of their respective district for at least one year preceding their election and must be at least 27 years old by the time of their election.

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

Throughout every year from 1992-2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Delaware State Senate. The Delaware State Senate is 1 of 16 state senates that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992-2013. During the final five years of the study, Delaware was under Democratic trifectas.

Across the country, there were 541 Democratic and 517 Republican state senates from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states had divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

SQLI and partisanship

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Delaware state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. For twelve out of the twenty years observed during the study, Delaware ranked in the top-10 of the SQLI ranking. The state dropped out of the top-10 for a period between 1996 and 1999, hitting the rank of 16th before climbing back into the top-10 for eight more years. It again dropped out of the top-10 in 2008 and has remained out of the top rankings since then. Delaware has never had a Republican trifecta, but has had a Democratic trifecta since 2009. In the state’s longest period of divided government, there was a Democratic governor, a Democratic state senate and a Republican state house. Delaware achieved its highest SQLI ranking (3rd) in 2003 and 2004 under divided government, and its lowest ranking (20th) in 2012 under a Democratic trifecta.

SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 16.75

SQLI average with Republican trifecta: N/A

SQLI average with divided government: 7.94

Chart displaying the partisanship of Delaware government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).